


Dark Meets Light

by Satine86



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Post-War, Angst, Gen, Hopeful Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-18
Packaged: 2018-10-20 15:51:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10665888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satine86/pseuds/Satine86
Summary: Even in the refugee district he knows he stands out.





	Dark Meets Light

**Author's Note:**

> Old fic, never posted before. Originally written for the 2014 (?) Shitennou_Ai ficathon before everyone got super busy with life. Theme was: new beginnings.

Even in the refugee district he knows he stands out. Hunching his shoulders, he pulls his overcoat a little tighter, and bends his shaggy head. He hopes to appear smaller, less bulky. Less like a soldier. He's sure he doesn't.

It's Tuesday and he's dodging people on the street, making his way to the Oak Leaf Tavern, an old hole-in-the-wall with a flickering sign that reads 'open'. Stepping inside he shrugs out of his coat, ready to take up a night of drinking, a favorite pastime of his. He does this to drown his sorrows and assuage the guilt that needles him daily. Besides, he reasons with himself, it's better to be in there in the dim light than outside where the stars can haunt him. 

The barkeep greets him with a single nod of his grizzled head, which he returns as he takes his usual place at the end of the bar, leaning against the far wall. He only has to wait a moment before a glass of amber liquid is placed before him. With a grunt of thanks he takes a sip. 

He's not sure how much time has passed when a shadow falls over him, and the stool next to his creaks lightly as the figure takes a seat. Glancing to his right he is rather shocked to find a middle-aged woman dressed in a pristine suit the color of wet cement. Her black hair is left unbound, the thick waves framing a kind face.

“Nova Casseo,” she says in a soft voice, tinged with an accent he has learned to call 'posh'. She does not belong in this dingy bar; does not belong in the refugee district.

“Do I know you?” he mumbles, voice rough.

“No, allow me introduce myself.” She extends a graceful hand for him to shake. He takes it gently and his hand swallows hers. “Luna Solus.”

Letting go of his hand, she twists around and pulls out a large packet of some kind from an expensive looking briefcase, and sets it on the bar in front of him.

“What's that?”

“A folder; a file, to be exact. I fear I'm terribly old fashioned.” She catches his eye, a wry look on her face. “But datapads and holo-crystals are so easily hacked.”

He shakes his head, thick brows furrowing. “I don't understand?”

“Well, you see, Mr. Casseo, I'm putting together a team and I find myself in need of your expertise.”

Nova snorts incredulously. “You need a drunk?”

Luna Solus blinks at him, dark eyes going wide, “Good heavens no, I need a soldier.” She taps the folder. “Read this file, and then do a favor for me?”

“A favor?” He laughs, low and raspy. “You are a crazy woman. I don't do favors.” 

“There is a shelter on Pine,” she continues as if he hadn't spoken, “I wish you to report there tomorrow morning.”

“And do what?” 

“Why, spend time with the children, of course.” She reaches over him, picks up his glass, and drains it in a single gulp. “When you're ready there's an address in the back of the file, meet me there.” Not waiting for reply she gathers her things and slips off the stool. Nova listens to the click-clack of her heels across the wooden floor, but doesn't spare her another glance. Instead he opens the file and begins to read.

 

*** 

 

Nova walks to the shelter the next morning, shoulders heavy. The building is old, it had once been a bank but was now recommissioned for the war orphans. The woman at the front desk is middle aged with frizzy brown hair fading into gray; hair dye a frivolous thing of the past.

“Can I help you... sir?” She arches a brow at him, scrutinizing him over her bifocals. He's all too aware of his too long brown hair, his threadbare clothes and clumsily patched overcoat. He should have shaved that morning. 

“I'm Nova Casseo. I'm here to volunteer.” He nods to the datapad by her hand, hoping Luna Solus hasn't lied to him. The woman's eyes scan it a moment before lifting back to his.

“Right. Go on.” She jerks her head toward the front doors, but not before giving him another snide look. He turns and tries his best to ignore her as she questions the guard on duty, asking why 'one of the Others' was allowed to work with the children. 

Inside the main shelter is just as bleak and dank as the outside. The children, orphans from both sides of the war, are dressed in tattered clothes and clutching used toys. Nova does what he can to cheer them; he tells them stories he heard on pirated holo-crystals and plays games he barely remembers from his own childhood. But mostly he listens. They have a lot to say. He wishes he could take all their burdens, bear them himself. They are too young for such sorrows, and it's the least he can do.

When his visit is over, he steps outside and feels older than his years. It's late afternoon and the sky is full of dark, fat clouds pissing down an endless drizzle.

It reminds him of home, the cool darkness of these heavy, stormy days.

He snorts and feels like a fool to miss it. To miss Acheron, as they call it here on Earth. But he does, he misses the endless darkness and the quiet that came with it. He misses his old life, before the war, before the fear and propaganda. The days when he would steal holo-crystals with stories from the Other Side and dream of what it was like there.

Then it all changed. There were tales of violent monsters who would break through the veil and cause mayhem. Malevolent beings they called “the Sen-shi”, who wanted nothing more than to destroy their home. The Leaders gathered up their armies, feeding dire stories to the scared and confused masses.

Nova signed up at a young age and trained hard, believed everything he was told. He was a good soldier. He never questioned, only did what was needed because he believed in the Leaders. He fought tirelessly, rose in the ranks, and earned the esteem of those higher up. Then there came a time when he was far beyond the veil and he was shaken to the core by something he couldn't name. 

There was a flash of clarity allowing him to see past the haze of indoctrination, past the lies and confusion, and when he did he saw the stars. The ancient, fathomless stars. He had been taught to fear them, and he did, more than anything in his life, but they were still beautiful. So beautiful. 

It was then he knew the war for what it was: a lie, full of senseless bloodshed and carnage, created by those who craved power and who did not care how many died to achieve their goal. It was then Nova realized that those on the Other Side were not the monsters, he was. 

Nova casts one last look at the shelter and shakes his head. He knows he is a fool to miss his home, and he knows he is a fool because he believed the lies. Because of him, and others like him, those children lived with pain and suffering. Sighing, he turns and walks home, and spends the night sober and guilt-ridden. 

He knows volunteering his time with the children is little penance for all he has done, but he continues to visit for the next week, and he supposes it's better than the alternative of drinking to forget. The file Luna Solus gave him remains in his dingy, pre-fab apartment, tucked under his mattress. 

It's Tuesday again and he's sitting in the main room of the shelter, watching over the children. He had used up his bar money to buy them new toys. As he watches a young girl with a riot of auburn curls and chubby cheeks play with a doll, he realizes it's not just a doll but an imitation of one of those fearsome Sen-Shi. He shakes his head, no, they are heroes here. The green of the doll's skirt unnerves him, like the stars do, and he knows he can't continue to hide. 

It's time he met with Luna Solus. Maybe he will find redemption with her. 

 

***

 

He arrives early the following morning at the address written in the back of the file. It looks to be an abandoned warehouse, and that confuses him. Though he's sure he's spotted at least five security cameras already. Nova walks up to the gate and looks for an intercom. Before he locates one there's a loud buzz and the gate swings open automatically. Luna's disembodied voice pipes through a speaker somewhere he can't see. 

“Please come up to the main building, Mr. Casseo.”

“You may call me Nova, you know?”

“I know,” comes the curt reply before the line is cut.

Nova's mouth twists into a frown, but he walks up the concrete path to the building nonetheless. He finds a plain door on the side of the warehouse. As soon as he stops in front of it, there's another buzz and it opens.

Stepping into the building is like stepping through a portal. The inside is brand new, full of top of the line computers and surveillance systems, all gleaming under florescence lights. Everything is military grade, of that he is sure. He spots Luna to one side, waiting with her hands folded primly behind her back and dressed in another pristine suit.

“Welcome, Mr. Casseo.”

Nova takes a deep breath and wills himself to speak, “I'm not sure about any of this.”

She frowns pityingly at him. “Now, we both know that's not true.”

“Why me?”

“I told you, I need a soldier.” She starts pacing in front of him, graceful and proud... almost like a cat. “But not just any soldier. I need someone highly skilled and highly trained. I need someone loyal, and I need someone who understands how the opposing side works.”

She stops and fixes Nova with a steady gaze. “Your leaders, your former leaders I should say, are still at large. They are wreaking havoc on this side of the veil, and the other. They must be stopped. And,” she pauses, measuring him, “there are children there who still need our help.”

Nova sighs and runs a hand through his hair. Children like him, being lied to and brainwashed. Children like that little girl with a riot of curls and chubby cheeks. “That I understand, what I don't is why you would choose me? There are others... there are generals, men and women who know much more about the regime than I do. I was just a soldier.... a murderer.”

“Because, Mr. Casseo, I have a good feeling about you.” She smiles at him, her face softening a bit. “Come along, why don't you meet the team?”

She leads him across the room and ushers him through a door. They walk quickly down a long hall lined with doorways before stopping at the last one. The room they enter is plain and spartan. There is a large screen taking up the far wall, and a circular table ringed with chairs. A conference room.

Luna all but shoves Nova inside and shuts the door. She crosses to the table and leans against it, arms folded. Nova realizes the chairs are full, a group of people he does not know.

He looks at Luna and shakes his head, “I don't....”

“What do you say, Mr. Casseo? Will you join us?” she asks.

Nova looks around the room, at the people gathered, a strange tingling sensation itching at the back of the mind. When he meets a pair of wide, emerald green eyes framed with thick lashes, something clicks. He swivels his gaze to meet Luna's, and nods.

“Yes,” he says with ease. 

Because this isn't redemption or penance, this is a new beginning.


End file.
